Droughts and famines in Russia and the Soviet Union

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An American charity postcard

showing the scale of the deadly

Throughout

and crop failures occurred on the

territory of

, the

and the

on more or less regular basis.

From the beginning of the 11th to the end of the 16th century, on the territory of

Russia for every century there were 8 crop failures, which were repeated every 13

years, sometimes causing prolonged famine in a significant territory. The causes of

famine were different, from natural (crop failures due to drought or disease) and

economic and political crises; for example, the

colloquially called the

, the cause of which was, among other factors, the

, which affected the territory of the

in Russia,

and

Pre-1900 droughts and famines

[

]

The

is believed to be Russia's worst in terms of the portion of the population affected, as it may

have killed 2 million people (1/3 of the population). Other major famines include the

, which

affected much of Europe, including part of Russia

as well as the Baltic states.

The Nikonian chronicle,

written between 1127 and 1303, recorded no less than eleven famine years during that period.

One of the most serious

crises before 1900 was the

, which killed between 375,000 and 500,000 people, mainly due to famine-

related diseases. Causes included a large autumn drought resulting in crop failures. Attempts by the government to

alleviate the situation generally failed which may have contributed to a lack of faith in the Tsarist government and

later political instability.

In 1899, the Volga area, especially Samara, suffered starvation, typhus and scurvy,

which depleted Red Cross aid.

The Red Cross staff also reported to the Minister of Agriculture and the head of the Committee for the provision of

medical care to the population

that he was unable to identify any deaths directly from

starvation.

The same position was expressed by Leo Tolstoy, who studied famines in Russia, and he stated that there

was no "Indian famine" (i.e., death) in Russia either in 1892 or 1896.

List of post-1900 droughts and famines

[

]

The Golubev and Dronin report gives the following table of the major droughts in Russia between 1900 and 2000.

: 16

Mass famines were reported in years of drought in the 1920s and 1930s, and the last drought occurred in 1984.

: 23

Central: 1920, 1924, 1936, 1946, 1984.

Southern: 1901, 1906, 1921, 1939, 1948, 1995.

Eastern: 1911, 1931.

1900s

[

]

Tsarist Russia experienced a famine in 1901–1902 (affecting 49

, or

guberniyas

), and again between 1906

and 1908 (affecting 19 to 29 governorates).

However, there were also no deaths, moreover, in starving regions the

population steadily increased and the mortality rate decreased.

[

–

]

1910s

[

]

During the

of 1917 and subsequent

, there was a dramatic decline in total

agricultural output. The 1920 grain harvest was only 46.1 million tons, compared to 80.1 million in 1913. By 1926, it

had almost returned to pre-revolutionary levels, reaching 76.8 million tons.

1920s

[

]

Starving boy, c. 1921

Three children who are dead from

starvation, 1921

Starving children in 1922

The early 1920s saw a series of famines. The deadly

happened as a result of the ongoing civil war and garnered wide international

attention, the most affected area being the Southeastern areas of

(including the

, especially the national republics of

, see

) and

[

]

. An estimated 16 million people may

have been affected.

was honored with the 1922

in part for his work as High Commissioner for Relief In Russia.

Other

organizations that helped to combat the Soviet famine were the

and the

After the outbreak of the Russian famine of 1921–1923, the European director of the

, began negotiations with Soviet

deputy

for Foreign Affairs,

, in

. An agreement was reached on August 21,

1921, and an additional implementation agreement was signed by Brown and People's Commissar for Foreign Trade

on December 30, 1921. The U.S. Congress appropriated $20,000,000 for relief under the

of late 1921.

At its peak, the ARA employed 300 Americans, more than 120,000 Russians and fed 10.5 million people

daily. Its Russian operations were headed by Col.

. The Medical Division of the ARA functioned from

November 1921 to June 1923 and helped overcome the

epidemic then ravaging

. The ARA's famine

relief operations ran in parallel with much smaller

, Jewish and

famine relief operations in

Russia.

The ARA's operations in Russia were shut down on June 15, 1923, after it was discovered that the

had clandestinely renewed the export of grain to Europe.

While the Moscow government recognized the famine in Russia, Soviet authorities paid little attention to the

. Moreover,

ordered the movement of trains full of grain from Ukraine to the Volga

region,

, and

, to combat starvation there; 1,127 trains were sent between fall 1921 and August

1922.

Soviet famine of 1932–1933

[

]

Main article:

Areas of most disastrous Soviet

famine of 1932–1933 marked with

black

The second major Soviet famine happened during the initial

during the 1930s. Major

include the 1932–33 confiscations of

and other

food by the

authorities

which contributed to the famine and affected more

than forty million people, especially in the south on the

and

areas and in

, where by various estimates millions starved to death or died due to

famine-related illness (the event known as

The famine was perhaps

most severe in Kazakhstan where the semi-nomadic pastoralists' traditional way of life was most disturbed by Soviet

agricultural ambitions.

Demographic impact

[

]

Main article:

One demographic retrojection suggests a figure of 2.5

million famine deaths for Soviet Ukraine and Kuban

region. This is too close to the recorded figure of

excess deaths, which is about 2.4 million. The latter

figure must be substantially low, since many deaths were

not recorded. Another demographic calculation, carried

out on behalf of the authorities of independent Ukraine,

provides the figure of 3.9 million dead. The truth is

probably in between these numbers, where most of the

estimates of respectable scholars can be found. It seems

reasonable to propose a figure of approximately 3.3

million deaths by starvation and hunger-related disease

in Soviet Ukraine in 1932–1933.

—

The demographic impact of the famine of 1932–1933 was

multifold. In addition to direct and indirect deaths associated

with the famine, there were significant internal migrations of

Soviet citizens, often fleeing famine-ridden regions. A sudden

decline in birthrates permanently "scarred" the long-term

population growth of the Soviet Union in a way similar to that

of World War II.

Estimates of Soviet deaths attributable to the 1932–1933 famine

vary wildly, but are typically given in the range of

millions.

Vallin et al. estimated that the disasters

of the decade culminated in a dramatic fall in fertility and a

rise in mortality. Their estimates suggest that total losses

can be put at about 4.6 million, 0.9 million of which was due

to forced migration, 1 million to a deficit in births, and 2.6

million to exceptional mortality.

The long-term demographic

consequences of collectivization and the Second World War meant that the Soviet Union's 1989 population was 288

million rather than 315 million, 9% lower than it otherwise would have been.

In addition to the deaths, the famine

resulted in massive population movements, as about 300,000

fled to

and

during the famine.

A 2020

article by Oleh Wolowyna estimated 8.7 million deaths

across the entire Soviet Union including 3.9 million in Ukraine, 3.3 million in Russia, and 1.3 million in Kazakhstan,

plus a lower number of dead in other republics.

Although famines were taking place in various parts of the USSR in 1932–1933, for example

parts of

and the

the name

Holodomor

is specifically applied to the events that took place in

territories populated by Ukrainians and also North Caucasian Kazakhs.

Legacy

[

]

Main article:

The legacy of Holodomor remains a sensitive and controversial issue in contemporary Ukraine where it is

by the government and is generally remembered as one of the greatest tragedies in the nation's

history.

The question of whether Holodomor was an intentional act of genocide has often been a subject of

dispute between the Russian Federation and Ukrainian governments. The modern Russian government has generally

attempted to disassociate and downplay any links between itself and the famine.

There is still debate over whether or not Holodomor was a massive failure of policy or a deliberate act of

genocide.

held the view that the famine was not intentionally inflicted by Stalin, but "with

resulting famine imminent, he could have prevented it, but put "Soviet interest" other than feeding the starving first

—thus consciously abetting it".

while Michael Ellman's analysis of the famine found that "there is some evidence

that in 1930-33 ... Stalin also used starvation in his war against the peasants", which he calls a "conscious policy

of starvation", but concludes that there were several factors, primarily focusing on the leadership's culpability in

continuing to prioritize collectivization and industrialization over preventing mass death,

due to their Leninist

stance of regarding starvation "as a necessary cost of the progressive policies of industrialisation and the building

of socialism", and thus did not "perceive the famine as a humanitarian catastrophe requiring a major effort to relieve

distress and hence made only limited relief efforts."

1940s

[

]

During the

in Russia by the German Reich, as many as one million people died, while many more went

hungry or starved but survived.

The

tried to starve out Leningrad in order to break its resistance. Starvation was one of the primary causes

of death as the food supply was cut off and strict rationing was enforced. Animals in the city were slaughtered and

eaten, and instances of

were reported.

The

in the USSR happened mainly in 1947 as a cumulative effect of consequences of collectivization,

war damage, the severe

in 1946 in over 50 percent of the grain-productive zone of the country and government

social policy and mismanagement of grain reserves. The regions primarily affected were

and

[

]

In Ukraine, between 100,000 and one million people may have perished.

In Moldova, according

to Soviet officials, the famine claimed the lives of more than 150,000 people, while historians estimate that this

figure reaches at least 250,000–300,000 people.

1947–1991

[

]

After 1947 there were no known famines. The drought of 1963 caused panic and

, but there was

no risk of famine. After that year the Soviet Union started importing

for its livestock in increasing

amounts.

Post-Soviet Russia

[

]

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there have been occasional issues with hunger and food insecurity in

Russia.

Both Russia and Ukraine were subject to a series of severe droughts from July 2010 to 2015.

The 2010

drought saw wheat production fall by 20% in Russia and subsequently resulted in a temporary ban on grain exports.